Shaun Best: Photographer's death rocks Montreal media

Irwin Block, The Gazette06.13.2011

Montreal-based Reuters photographer Shaun Best died of a heart attack Saturday night. He was 43.Courtesy of Best family

Arrested protesters gaze out from a bus as they watch police arrest other demonstrators during their protest against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank April 17. The protesters decided to opt for peaceful arrests rather than storming police lines as their way of protesting the meetings.Shaun Best / Reuters

Peter Bradley (L) and Bill Langdon walk through a flooded yard to greet a truck loaded with sandbags in Twin Beaches on the shores of Lake Manitoba, May 18, 2011. Warm dry weather has helped the Canadian Prairie province control some of the highest water levels on record.Shaun Best / Reuters

A policeman hits a protester after they fired tear gas into the crowd trying to break up a protest against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings Apri 16. Police in full riot gear began using force against protesters who have gathered in Washington to try and stop a meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.Shaun Best / Reuters

Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien (R) sit together during the opening of the United Nations Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, May 6. Chretien would not say if the federal goverment will become involved in the court case launched by Guy Bertrand to make separation unconstitutional.REUTERS/Shaun Best

Arizona Cardinals running back J.J. Arrington (L) is tackled by Pittsburgh Steelers safety Tyrone Carter during the fourth quarter of the NFL's Super Bowl XLIII football game in Tampa, Florida, February 1, 2009.REUTERS/Shaun Best

Vancouver Canucks left wing Daniel Sedin (L) is hit into the boards by Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) in the third period in Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoff in Boston, Massachusetts, June 8, 2011.REUTERS/Shaun Best

Alison Burns poses for a picture at the NFL Experience as part of Super Bowl festivities in Tampa, Florida, January 30, 2009. The Pittsburgh Steelers will meet the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL's Super Bowl XLIII football game on February 1.REUTERS/Shaun Best

Former Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau talks to supporters as the campaigns with Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe in the Montreal suburb of Longueuil, April 25, 2011. Canadians go to the polls in a federal election May 2.REUTERS/Shaun Best

People on the streets near the site of the former World Trade towers look down during a ceremony to mark the first year anniversary of the attack of the buildings in New York, September 11, 2002.REUTERS/Shaun Best

U.S. President George W. Bush (L) and former President Bill Clinton talk as Clinton leaves the Capitol Building following Bush's inauguration in Washington, January 20, 2001. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States.Shaun Best / Reuters

Dinara Safina of Russia reacts to a missed point against Serena Williams of the U.S. during their semi-final match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament at Flushing Meadows in New York September 5, 2008.Shaun Best / Reuters

An armed South Korean police officer guards the team USA bus outside their hotel in Seoul, South Korea, May 29, 2002. Team USA are in Group D with South Korea, Poland and Portugal in the first round of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals which begin May 31 in Japan and South Korea.Shaun Best / Reuters

Vancouver Canucks' Daniel Sedin attends a news conference ahead of Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey final against the Boston Bruins in Boston June 7, 2011.Shaun Best / Reuters

Florida Marlins starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis kicks his leg as he delivers a pitch during action against the Montreal Expos at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, July 13, 2003.Shaun Best / Reuters

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MONTREAL - Sports photographers and writers here and around the world were stunned Sunday to learn that Montreal-based Reuters photographer Shaun Best, 43, had died Saturday night, apparently of a heart attack.

Best had just finished dinner with other photographers covering the Canadian Grand Prix and was driving home with his longtime partner, Gazette copy editor Denise Duguay, when he had the attack.

As soon as word got out that Best had died, Twitter was alive with tweets about him.

“Media here at Canadian Grand Prix rocked by the death of photographer Shaun Best” is how QMI columnist Terry Jones, who was covering the Formula One race, put it.

“He came out of Winnipeg and saw the world with his camera,” said Mike Blake, a Reuters colleague. “He was friends with all photographers on the circuit, including those he competed with,” said Blake, en route to San Diego.

“It’s a sad day for all of us.”

Steve Keating, a Toronto-based Reuters sportswriter, had talked to Best on Saturday about covering the Stanley Cup finals. “We were deciding whether we would drive down today (Sunday, for Game 6 in Boston) after the F1 race or wait and go Monday. He said, ‘Let me check the weather and I’ll get back to you.’ ”

Photographer Fred Greenslade of Portage la Prairie, who knew Best at university and at the Winnipeg Sun, said he was “an outstanding photographer” with a knack for getting it right. “He always knew what newspapers wanted. He knew how to edit, knew what the story was, and knew the right picture to send on the wire, all the time.”

Remarkably, he picked up these skills on his own, but with help from friends. “He was completely self-taught,” Duguay, who met Best while she was at the Sun, recalled.

Best loved the camera and started freelancing for the Sun at age 17 while still in high school. He went on to study general arts at the University of Manitoba but dropped out to pursue his photographic career.

He got a lot of help along the way from seasoned pros, and never forgetting their role in his career development, “repaid the favours he received in spades,” Duguay said.

Best was always ready to teach and help out fellow photographers following a similar route, she recalled. “He loved what he did,” Duguay said. “He was incredibly generous. He taught himself photography and computers and then taught anybody else who wanted to know, and that included me and colleagues all over the world.

As a staff photographer, Best was what Duguay called “a stalwart” on the Reuters sports events team. Hockey and golf were his specialties.

His parents, Shirley and Rick Best, and Duguay were planning for a funeral in Winnipeg, with a memorial service in Montreal. He is also survived by his brother Mike Best.

Shaun Best’s corneas, heart valves and skin were donated for use in transplants.

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